"De guy who gives us de wire about dat truck tonight?"
"Yes."
"De guy," said Mr Uniatz, making sure of his identification, "what is goin' to find out who is de big shot in dis racket?"
"That was the idea," said the Saint curtly. "But I suppose he found out too much. He won't tell us anything now, I'm afraid."
Mr Uniatz wagged his head.
"Chees," he said sympathetically, "dat's too bad."
For the first time he seemed to visualize the passing of Mr Pargo as a subject for serious regret. He studied the body with a personal interest which had been lacking in him before and reached for his bottle again to console himself.
Simon drew smoke monotonously into his lungs and breathed it out in slow trailing streamers. Pargo's death was something that was passing into his own background by then. Anger and pity would do nothing now: his troubles were over, whatever they had been. There remained revenge — and that would be taken in due time, inexorably. The Saint was grimly resolved about that… But that was another part of the background, an item in the unalterable facts of existence like the rising of the sun the next morning, too obvious to require dwelling on in the abstract.
Nor was he thinking of the chance that the same rising sun might find him taking no more active share in the proceedings than Pargo was. Certainly the dumping of the body was a proof that his anonymity was gone forever; but he had taken that risk voluntarily, before he knew about Pargo, when he let the girl and Jopley go. With his almost clairvoyantly accurate understanding of the criminal mind, he wasn't expecting any further demonstrations that night: the body had been left there for an effect, and nothing more would be done until the effect had had time to sink in.
What he was thinking, with a different kind of coldbloodedness from that of Mr Uniatz, was that the passing of Mr Pargo was a setback which it wouldn't be easy to make good. He had now the possible cooperation of Jopley, but that would be suspect for some time even if it materialized. The one proved spy he had had in the enemy's camp had been hideously eliminated.